Posted on 04/05/2008 9:01:37 PM PDT by Red Steel
AUSTIN — Barack Obama would have the coattails to carry down-ballot Texas Democrats to victory in November and could be crucial to Democratic efforts to take Harris County away from Republicans, Obama's state congressional supporters say.
And two of them — U.S. Reps. Chet Edwards of Waco and Eddie Bernice Johnson of Dallas — said Hillary Rodham Clinton would inspire an increased Republican voter turnout this fall.
"In some ways, Hillary Clinton would unify Republicans in a way that John McCain cannot," said Edwards, referring to the presumptive GOP presidential nominee.
Clinton and her husband, former President Bill Clinton, often are the targets of Republican attacks.
Obama success Clinton Texas Chairman Garry Mauro said Clinton won the popular vote among Democrats in the March 4 primary, and he said polls he has seen showed either Obama or Clinton would be good for down-ballot races in the fall.
"I hope none of these elected officials will ever again say Hillary's running a negative campaign, and they're running a positive one," Mauro said Tuesday. "There's no reason for us to be negative about each other.
Obama was the clear winner of last weekend's Democratic regional conventions. His campaign claims that when it is verified at the state Democratic convention in June, Obama will have 99 Texas delegates to Clinton's 94.
Mauro said when the counting is done from the caucus-convention process, Clinton may take one or two delegates away from Obama.
The next major Democratic nominating fight is the April 22 Pennsylvania primary.
Edwards said Clinton got national coverage on election night for winning the popular vote in Texas, but he said Democrats elsewhere need to know Obama actually won the state.
"A lot of the national media bought into this, that she came away from Texas with a great victory," Edwards said. "Now it comes out a month later that their professed victory really was a defeat."
Speaking on a conference call Tuesday with reporters, Edwards, Johnson and U.S. Reps. Al Green of Houston, Charlie Gonzalez of San Antonio and Lloyd Doggett of Austin said Obama as the party's presidential nominee can help Democrats retake Texas.
Dems foresee gains Green said the efforts by Harris County Democrats to wrest control of county offices away from Republicans would be enhanced by having Obama heading the ticket. He likened it to the party switch that occurred in Dallas County in the 2006 elections, when Democrats won a majority of the county's elected offices.
"It is firmly believed that Senator Obama will have coattails that will change that. We may go the way of Dallas," Green said.
"We believe we will have judges elected countywide, the county judge elected countywide. And they will be Democrats. It will change the face of Democratic politics in Harris County."
Obama won most areas of Harris County in both the primaries and caucus system.
Candidate spending Clinton supporter U.S. Rep. Shelia Jackson Lee of Houston noted Clinton has the backing of U.S. Rep. Gene Green of Houston as well as congressmen from South Texas and former congressmen from West Texas.
"These members gave considerable thought to Senator Clinton's attractiveness to Texas voters," Jackson Lee said.
"We have no statistical indication that women of both sides of the aisle would not be attracted to a woman running for president of the United States of America who reaches out to them as Ann Richards did," Jackson Lee said.
State Sen. Leticia Van de Putte, D-San Antonio, a Clinton supporter, said the real question for down-ballot candidates is whether either Obama or Clinton will put money into the state in the fall. She said otherwise it is up to the individual candidates to make their case for election.
She said Republicans do get "invigorated by the name Clinton, whether it's Hillary or Bill," but said Hillary Clinton also inspires female voters.
LOL.... and Chrissy’s assessment of Obama’s accomplishments amount to “a thrill going up his leg”? He blasted that state Senator from Tx. for lack of substance in backing O yet CM reacts to Oblama in a similar fashion.
When Hillary and Carville get finished with Obama he won’t be worth a sack of Texas cow poop.
LOL. That will haunt K Watson for a long time. There was another dim on national tv asked to mention one of BO’s accomplishments and he had the same reaction.
FWIW, if the letters to the editor in the Austin paper are any indication of BO’s appeal, his savior status is falling like a lead balloon.
Yes, of course! Having a Black man who will be: viewed as a Muslim, is a socialist, is the most liberal senator in America, and has been identified as someone who will cause fully 20% of White Democrats to vote for McCain, will certainly win over Texas votes, absol - frickin’ lutely!
Nonsense. All the blacks in Harris County (and there are a LOT of them!!!) already vote (D).
The only thing Obama will change is to put TX in the (R) column for POTUS by an even wider margin.
Coattails? Ha ha ha. Just the opposite.
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